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Researching Turkish and Persian Names

Ursula Georges

Three Language Families

Arabic

• Semitic language family

• Nouns are grammatically masculine or feminine

• Definite article is al-

• Verbs are formed using a three-consonant root: kātib means “writer”, kataba means “he

wrote”, etc.

Persian

• Indo-European language family

• No grammatical gender

• No definite article

Turkic

• Multiple languages in Turkic family: modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Uighur, Khazar,

Bulgar, Cuman/Kipchak, etc.

• No grammatical gender

• No definite article

• Vowel harmony: all vowels in a word must “match”

• Agglutination

Note on Transliteration

• Multiple ways to represent same Persian, Turkish, or Arabic spelling in Latin alphabet

• May use English or modern Turkish spelling rules

• I follow my sources’ transliteration methods

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Persia and its Invaders

Iran and its neighbors, 2009 map

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, UT Austin

Sasanian Empire

• 224-651 AD

• The state religion was Zoroastrianism. The empire also had significant numbers of

Christians, Jews, Gnostics, Mandaeans, and Manichaeans.

• Wars and trade with Roman/Byzantine empire

• Powerful bureaucracy

• Middle Persian language (often written in Pahlavi, an Aramaic script)

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Sasanian Empire

Islamic Conquests

Islamic Expansion through 750 AD

• 570 AD: The Prophet Muhammad is born in the Arabian city of Mecca

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• 602-628: Sasanians and Byzantines fight war; Sasanians initially successful but

eventually defeated, leading to political chaos

• 622 AD: Muhammad and his followers leave Mecca for Medina. This migration (Arabic

Hijra) marks Year 1 of the Islamic calendar (AH)

• 632: Muhammad dies

• 637: Arab forces take Ctesiphon, capital of the Sasanian empire (about 20 miles southeast

of modern Baghdad)

• 649-50: Arabs take Persepolis in Fars, a Zoroastrian center

• 762: Baghdad founded by the `Abbasid caliph al-Mansur

Conversion and Change

• Initially, Arabs lived in garrison towns, and converts to Islam (mawālī) were affiliated

with particular tribes.

• Muslims and non-Muslims cooperated in administration and tax collection

• About 8% of Iran’s city dwellers were Muslim in 750, when the `Abbasid dynasty gained

power

• About 50% were Muslim by 850

• About 80% were Muslim by the end of the tenth century

• Persian Muslims begin to use Arabic script for the Persian language

Samanids, Buyids, Ghaznavids, etc.

Beginning in the ninth century, the `Abbasid provinces became effectively independent states.

• Samanid dynasty, 874-999: Sunni dynasty centered in Khurasan and Transoxania

• Buyid or Buwaihid dynasty

o Tenth- and eleventh-century

o Founded by three Shi`i brothers

o Capital at Shiraz

• Ghaznavid dynasty

o Founded in late tenth century

o Ethnically Turkic

o Descended from Samanid slave soldiers

o Capital in Ghazni, Afghanistan

o Ruled parts of Persia, Transoxania, and northern India

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Seljuks

• Turkic nomads led by Seljuk family

• Empire founded in 1037 by Toghril-Beg

• Persian vezir Nizam al-Mulk expands administration

• Seljuks fight Byzantines, conquer Anatolia

• Conflicts with Crusaders

• Provincial rulers become more independent

Mongol Invasion and the Ilkhanids

• Genghis Khan begins destructive invasion of Persia in 1219

• Grandson Hülegü expands Mongol control, founds Ilkhanid dynasty

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Campaigns of Genghis Khan

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Timurids

• Timur (in English, Tamerlane)

o Born 1336

o Muslim

o Member of Turko-Mongol Barlas tribe

o Initially allied with Chaghatay Khans

o Conquered Transoxania, Persia

o Wars in Anatolia and northern India

• Dynasty sponsors Persian and Chaghatay Turkic literature

• Descendants found Mughal dynasty in India

Safavids

• Dynasty founded by Shah Isma’il

o Reigns as Shah beginning in 1502

o Traced descent from Sufi leader Safī al-Dīn Abu al-Fath Ishaq Ardabilī (1252–

1334)

• Qizilbash

o Shi`i soldiers

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o Predominantly Turkic

o Named for their red hats

• Wars with Ottomans

Safavid and Ottoman Empires

Mamluks and Ottomans

Mamluks

• Group of slaves belonging to an elite Egyptian military corps

• 1259 AD: Mamluks seize control of Egypt and Syria

• 1260: Mamluks turn back Mongol invasion

• The Mamluks maintained their dominance by importing new slaves to join their military

elite. After reaching a certain rank, these slaves would be freed to take their place in the

Mamluk government.

• Many Mamluks were ethnic Turks

• Used Turkic given names to emphasize difference from subjects

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Mamluk Empire c. 1400

Ottoman Empire

• Osman I declares independence from Seljuks in 1299

• Ottomans conquer Constantinople in 1453

• Wars with Safavids

• Defeat Mamluks

• Ottoman Turkish is administrative and literary language

o uses Perso-Arabic script (see p. 19 for an example)

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Expansion of the Ottoman Empire

Language, Research, and Modern Politics

Turkey

• After World War I, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk leads effort to make Turkey secular Western

state

• Script reform replaces Arabic-based script with a version of the Latin alphabet

o The modern Turkish letter C sounds like English J

• Language reform replaces Arabic and Persian loanwords with new words that have

Turkic roots

• 1934 law requires everyone to use a hereditary surname

Iran

• Iranian revolution begins in 1978

• Western influences banned

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Afghanistan

• Soviet invasion, civil war, and U.S. invasion

Tajikistan

• Former Soviet republic

• Tajik Persian is written in Cyrillic

Islamic Naming Patterns from Arabic

Some Popular Islamic Names with Historical Significance

Men’s Names

`Alī (Muḥammad’s cousin and son-in-law)

Ḥasan (grandson of Muḥammad)

Ḥusayn (grandson of Muḥammad)

Ibrāhīm (Abraham)

Muḥammad, Maḥmud, Mehmed (the Prophet)

Sulaymān, Suleiman (Solomon)

Women’s Names

`A’isha (one of Muḥammad’s favorite wives)

Fāṭimah (a daughter of Muḥammad)

Khadijah, Khadija (Muḥammad’s first wife)

Maryam (Mary mother of Jesus)

Zaynab (the name of two wives, a daughter, and a

granddaughter of Muḥammad)

Patronymics

• One of the most common styles of Arabic byname

• Identifies a person by his or her father.

• Maryam daughter of Ibrāhīm is Maryam bint Ibrāhīm.

• Sulaymān son of Ibrāhīm is either Sulaymān ibn Ibrāhīm or Sulaymān bin

Ibrāhīm.

• ibn and bin are two possible pronunciations of the same Arabic word

• The abbreviation b. is often used for both ibn and bint.

Locatives

• Common type of byname in Arabic

• Adjective which identifies where someone is from

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• If Maryam and Sulaymān were both from Andalusia, then they might have been

called Maryam al-Andalusiyya and Sulaymān al-Andalusi.

Honorific Names

Many important figures in our period used Arabic phrases in their names indicating

importance to Islam or the realm.

Name Element Meaning Example Gloss

al-Dīn Of the religion Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Righteousness of the

religion

al-Dawla Of the dynasty Sayf al-Dawla Sword of the

dynasty

al-Mulk Of the kingdom Nizam al-Mulk Good order of the

kingdom

Analyzing Persian and Turkish Names

What is the Language?

• What languages are available?

• What language is the source text?

• Are words or patterns borrowed from a different language?

Examples:

From an Arabic inscription, 1041, Uzbekistan:

The most exalted prince, the wise and just lord, Mu`izz al-Dawla Arslân Tikîn

Abu'l Faḍl al-`Abbâs b. Mu'ayyad al-`Adl Ilik, son of the amir Naṣr b. `Alî Sa`îd

Khân, client of the Commander of the Faithful

Arabic inscription, 1053, Persepolis:

The illustrious amir, the chief amir `Amîd al-Dîn Shams al-Dawla Abî [sic] `Alî

Hazârasp b. Sayf al-Dawla Abi'l-Ḥasan Naṣr b. al-Ḥasan b. Fîrûzân, client of the

Commander of the Faithful

Islamic Patronymics for All

Patronymics in bint (for women) and bin (for men) appear in Persian- and Turkish-

language documents, often in abbreviated form.

Titles

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• Titles are very common in Persian and Turkish names

• Meanings of titles could shift over time

• Some people used titles as given names

• Some people used titles instead of given names

• Titles may fall before or after a given name, depending on language, gender, and

the specific title

Some Masculine Titles

Shah, Sultan, Shahzade, Khan, Beg/Bey, Pasha, Agha, Mir/Amir, Shaykh, Sayyid

Some Feminine Titles

Sultan, Shahzade, Khanum, Khatun, Hatun, Begum, Bibi

Locatives in Persian

Locative bynames are common in Persian-language sources. Masculine and feminine

bynames use the same adjective.

City Byname

Anjir Faghna, a town in Uzbekistan Anjîr Faghnawî

Jarkh, a town in Afghanistan Charkhî

Ghujdawan, a town in Uzbekistan Ghujdawânî

Hamadan, a city in Iran Hamadânî

Herat Heravî / Herātî

Isfahan Iṣfahânî

Kashgar, a city in western China Kâshgharî

Riwakar, a village in Uzbekistan Rîwgirawî

Samarkand Samarqandî

Sammas, a village in Uzbekistan near Bukhara Samâsiyî

Shiraz Shirâzî

Tabriz Tabrîzî

The given name and adjective are linked by a particle called ezafe. The ezafe is spelled

either –e or –i (depending on time and place); after a vowel, the ezafe takes the form –ye

or –yi. In written Persian, the ezafe is usually omitted, though it may be included in a

transliteration:

Yûsuf Hamadânî = Yûsuf-e Hamadânî

Nihânî Shirâzî = Nihânî-yi Shirâzî

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Ottoman Descriptive Bynames

• Usually come before a given name.

• May include locative bynames, such as Baghdadi ‘from Baghdad’, occupational

bynames, such as Saatçi ‘watch-maker, watch-seller’, or simple descriptions of

appearance, such as Küçük ‘small’.

• Kara ‘black’ is a comparatively common byname.

• Descriptive bynames are much rarer than titles/offices or patronymics.

Family Names

• Indicate lineage or tribe.

Examples

Timurid dynasty names:

Khânîke bt Muḥammad Ûghlân ChaghatâyChaghatâyChaghatâyChaghatây

Pâshâ Begum bt `Alî Shakar Beg BahârlûBahârlûBahârlûBahârlû

Safavid/ Qizilbash names:

Khan Agha bt. Hasan Agha ShukrShukrShukrShukr----OghluOghluOghluOghlu (1538)

Sayyidah Huri Khanum bt. Sayyid Qasim Mirza SafaviSafaviSafaviSafavi (1625)

Natijah Khanum bt. Zulfiqar Beg QaramanluQaramanluQaramanluQaramanlu (1628)

Sorting Out Pronunciations

• Some letters are pronounced differently in Persian and Turkish than in Arabic

• Pronunciation also varies depending on time and place

• Do not fear the International Phonetic Alphabet!

Wikipedia has useful charts:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_transliteration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_phonology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English_dialects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_alphabet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_phonology

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Another helpful website is omniglot.com , which includes sound files.

Some Onomastic Books and Articles

The Medieval Names Archive:

http://s-gabriel.org/names/islamic.shtml

John Woods, The Timurid Dynasty. Bloomington: Indiana University, 1990.

Genealogy of the Timurid dynasty, including descendants, wives, and concubines.

Note that Fulan and Fulana mean “anonymous.” Available from the publisher or

Abebooks.com:

http://www.indiana.edu/~rifias/Publications.htm

Annemarie Schimmel, Islamic Names.

Mixes SCA-period and modern names; analysis is based on category of name

rather than language. Available in limited preview on Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=qThvezos8LgC

Salahuddin Ahmed, A Dictionary of Muslim Names.

This is NOT a good source for choosing an SCA name, but may be useful in

identifying the etymology or Arabic spelling of names found in other sources.

Finding New Resources

• Inscriptions

• Waqf (also known as vakf): charitable endowments, often made by or benefiting

women

• Biographical dictionaries

• Histories

Sample Data

Safavid women’s names

In Fariba Zarinebaf-Shahr, "Economic Activities of Safavid Women in the Shrine-City of

Ardabil":

Name Information Date

Banafshah Khatun Sultan Haydar's wife second half of the

fifteenth century

Fakhr-i Jahan Khanum Shah Isma`il's sister 1528

Khatun Khan Zahidiyah Begum bt. Shaykh 1518

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`Arif Yusufshah

Bengi Sultan Qilichlu Qari bt. Hamzah Agha b.

Murad Agha Rumlu Qilichlu Qari means

'sworded woman' 1534

Sahib Sultan Khatun bt. Hasan Agha Shukr-

Oghlu 1538

Khan Agha bt. Hasan Agha Shukr-Oghlu 1538

`Ismat Khatun bt. Khwajah `Abd al-`Ali b. Hajji

Muhibb 'Ali 1619

Jahan Khanum bt. Khwajah `Abd al-`Ali b.

Hajji Muhibb 'Ali

1619

Mahi Khanum bt. Khwajah `Abd al-`Ali b. Hajji

Muhibb 'Ali

1619

Sayyidah Saltanat Khanum bt. Ghulamrizi

Safavi

1620

Mahi Khanum bt. Sayyid Mirza Safavi 1620

Bilqis Khanum bt. Mirza Ibrahim Beg 1625

Khadijah Khanum bt. Mirza Ibrahim Beg 1625

Paykar Khanum widow of Mirza

Ibrahim Beg 1625

Irhasan Khanum widow of Mirza

Ibrahim Beg 1625

Khadijah Banu daughter of Sayyid

Agha Yusuf Safavi 1625

Shah Zaman Khanum daughter of Sayyid

Khwajah Beg Mirza

Safavi

1625

Sayyidah Huri Khanum bt. Sayyid Qasim

Mirza Safavi

1625

Murassa' bt. Bahram Quli 1625

`Arab Khan bt. `Azizullah Rumlu 1625

Begi Khan Khanum bt. Muhammad Beg

Shamlu

Also listed as Bengi

Khan 1625

Begum Khan Khatun wife of Mulla Muhsin

Ardabili 1625

Huri Khanum bt. Khalifah Timur Khan Safavi 1628

Natijah Khanum bt. Zulfiqar Beg Qaramanlu 1628

Shah Mawjud Khanum bt. Haydar Quli Beg 1628

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Some names of Ottoman administrators in 1527

From a document translated in The Sultan’s Servants by I. Metin Kunt

Province of Rumeli

Kasım Paşa, Governor General of Rumeli

Hüsrev Bey, son of Ferhad Ağa

Mehmet Bey, son of Yahya Paşa

Pulak Mehmet Bey

Mehmet Bey of the Mihal family

the exalted Zeynel Paşa

Ahmet Bey, brother of Mustafa Bey

Hasan Bey

Mehmet Bey, head palace gatekeeper

Süleyman Bey

Pîrî Bey, son of Balta

Hüseyin Bey of the Evrenos family

Yahşi Bey of the Mihal family

Mehmet Bey

Hasan Bey, son of Ömer Bey

Bâlî Bey the Younger

Ahmet Bey, son of Kasım Paşa

Hasan Bey, Sekbanbaşi (janissary officer)

Mehmet Bey, son of Ahmed Ağa

Sinan Bey, Kethüda-ı Rumeli

Kayıtbay, cavalier (cundi)

Ali Bey, ağa-yı gurebâ-yi yemin (commander of

one of the household cavalry regiments)

Hüseyin Bey of the Evrenos family

Mehmed Bey, son of Todor Mujak

Nebi Bey, superintendent of the royal stables

Ali Bey, son of Đskender Paşa

Đskender Bey, son of Çerni

Mehmed Bey, nişanî

Abdülcelil Bey of the Đsfendiyar family

Yaya (provincial infantry) Commands

Kasım, ser zağarcıyan (janissary officer)

Hüseyin head carriageman

Mustafa, ser sasoncıyan (janissary officer)

Mustafa, ağa-ı Istanbul (janissary officer)

Kasım, ser piyadegân (janissary officer)

Ali, ser turnacıyan (janissary officer)

Süleyman

Đlyas, ser turnacıyan (janissary officer)

Hüseyin, ser solak (palace official)

Yusuf

Yusuf, ser piyade (janissary officer)

Mehmed

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Medieval names found on funerary monuments in Siraf

A medieval port city in southern Iran. The names date to the tenth through fourteenth centuries.

Nicholas M. Lowick, Siraf XV: The Coins and Monumental Inscriptions.

`Abd al-Raḥîm b. Muh.ammad

`Abd al-Raḥmân b. Ayyûb

Abû Alî

(Abû) 'l-Faraj al-S.affâr

Abû'l-Ghanîmah b. `Abd al-Ṣamad b. `Abd al-

Raḥmân

Abû'l-Ḥasan . . .

Abû'l-Ma`âlî Kâmrû b. Hazârasp b. Kâmrû

Abû Mans.ûr b. al-Ḥasan b. Abî Manṣûr

Ah.mad b. Îrâmard (?) b. al-Ḥusayn

`Alî b. `Abd al-Rah.mân b. Muh.ammad b.

Juwânûyah

`Amr b. Muslim b. Mardshâd

Hârûn b. Mâ'il

al-Ḥusayn b. Ah.mad

Ibrâhîm b. `Alî

Ibrâhîm b. S . . .

Karânî (?) bint Irâmard (?) b. al-Ḥusayn

Mu`âwiyah b. Abî Naṣr b. al-Ḥasan

Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Rah.mân b.

Muḥammad b. Yûsuf b. ...

Muslim b. `Alî

Muslim b. Mardshâd

Sa`îdah ibnat `Ali b.

Tâjûyah bint `Azîzî b. Mândî (?)

Umm al-Faḍl bint `Imrân b. Mûsa

Yûsuf b. Abrûz

Other References

David Ayalon, “Names, Titles, and 'nisbas' of the Mamlūks” and “The Eunuchs in the Mamlūk

Sultanate” in The Mamlūk Military Society, London: Variorum Reprints, 1979.

Jamsheed K. Choksky, Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in

Medieval Iranian Society, New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.

Marshall G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974,

vol.I-II.

I. Metin Kunt, The sultan's servants: the transformation of Ottoman provincial government,

1550-1650, New York : Columbia University Press, 1983.

Nicholas M. Lowick, Siraf XV: The Coins and Monumental Inscriptions (London: The British

Institute of Persian Studies, 1985).

Leslie Peirce, The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire, New York:

Oxford University Press, 1993.

Fariba Zarinebaf-Shahr, "Economic Activities of Safavid Women in the Shrine-City of Ardabil"

Iranian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Spring, 1998), pp. 247-261